Spike Lee Calls Tyler Perry Shows “Buffoonery”

Tyler Perry will be profiled this Sunday on 60 Minutes.  During the interview CBS correspondent Byron Pitts reads a quote for director Spike Lee.  Lee has dismissed Tyler Perry’s TBS sitcoms “Meet the Browns” and “House of Payne” as “coonery and buffoonery.” Perry takes offense to Lee’s assessment, but is it true? Perry claims the characters depicted in his sitcoms do exist and he has the ability to use the characters to share a bigger message. The bigger question is why do we spend so much time obssessing over Perry’s sitcoms? We do this because his shows are the only black shows on television. Sure you might find a black character here or there, but you will not find any other series. Perry’s depictions might not inspire as much ire if there were other shows showing intelligent black people living their lives without a laughtrack. Perry has tapped into something, but is this a case of people laughing at us and not laughing with us.